Wife Of The Year?

What does a woman trying to get knocked up do to maximize her chances?  She follows her husband to Houston.  Last month we only really had one shot at TTC (trying to conceive), because Greg's schedule SUCKS!  This month was looking to be much the same, so I decided to take matters in to my own hands and go to where my husband was, hoping to give us another opportunity to try. 

Greg was home two nights last week, but I'd really only count one (Tuesday), since Monday night he got home after 11pm.  He headed back to Houston Wednesday.  Frustrated, I looked at my options:  1) Stay in Charlotte with zero extra chances to TTC or 2) Go to Houston in the hopes of having more chances.  Obviously option two seems like the better choice.  The problem?  He's on reserve (on call), so I didn't know if he'd even BE in Houston to try.  Thursday Greg didn't get called and we were cautiously optimistic that he might not get called and we might actually get to spend some time together in Houston.  Then scheduling called and assigned him a four day trip starting Friday at 5pm- ughhhhhhhhh.  I decided to go ahead and fly out there anyway on Friday morning, since we had at least part of the day Friday before he had to leave.  Better than nothing.

Friday morning Clyde and I hopped a plane to Houston, and Greg picked us up at the airport when we arrived.  He recently changed apartments in Houston, so this is the new "crash pad".

He did a big shopping trip to Ikea a couple weeks ago and this one is a lot more furished than the previous apartment, which pretty much consisted of an air mattress, and bistro table and chair.

He still has the air mattress, but now it's on a bed frame.

It's a decent little home away from home.

Clyde seemed to approve after a thorough sniff down.

Well, and after peeing on the closest fire hydrant.

We got some lunch, then went for a drive around the area, which ended up involving chocolate dipped vanilla comes at Dairy Queen.  Necessary.

We had pretty much the whole afternoon together, but before I knew it I had to take Greg to the airport.  :(

Before I left to fly to Houston Friday morning, a thought occurred to me.  Greg had driven his car out to Houston a couple weeks ago, because he wanted to bring some stuff from home for the new crash pad.  He hasn't had time to drive it back to Charlotte though, so it's been sitting out there for a few weeks and he really wants it in Charlotte, since he's got another car in Houston.  I figured I'd offer to drive his car back since I have a long weekend and time to do it.  He was on board with the idea.  I figured I'd leave once I got up on Saturday morning, and start heading east.  This problem was foiled when I realized a half hour after dropping Greg off that I had HIS keys!  He had driven himself to the airport and left them in the ignition, so I had both of our keys, and he had none! 

I quickly called him and explained the situation.  He told me that he was going to be flying back through Houston on Saturday around 11am, so if I waited to start driving, I could drop his keys off to him at the airport first.  Not the end of the world, but I knew it would set me back a little in what would already be a long drive.

Friday night Clyde and I hung out at the apartment.  We went for a walk in a nearby neighborhood.

I then assembled a dinner from Greg's apartment freezer: green beans with almonds, and a bean and cheese burrito.

Eaten on Greg's balcony while reading Mockingjay.  I'm pretty engrossed in the third Hunger Games book and spent the rest of Friday night reading it.

Saturday, I packed up the car for the long trip and went to the airport to meet up with Greg and give him his keys.

At least we had a little extra time together, even though it wasn't much, because he had less than two hours on the ground before he had to head out again.  We grabbed a quick lunch and then he was off, and so were Clyde and I on our long car trip.

Had I been planning better, there are a bunch of things I would have done differently.  I would have brought my GPS, since Greg has an ancient Sony one that isn't always accurate and takes forever to find its location.  Between that and my IPhone I made it work.  I also wish I'd brought some books on CD or loaded more new music on my Ipod.  I didn't really pack much, because originally I thought I would be flying back to Charlotte after just one night in Houston.  I did throw in a couple extra things just in case and I pretty much wore the entire contents of my suitcase over the course of the trip.  I also had booked a hotel in Montgomery, Alabama for Saturday night, which would have been fine if I'd left earlier on Saturday morning, but because of the key fiasco, Montgomery was a really long way to drive since I didn't leave til around noon.

Clyde spent a bunch of trip in this pose, checking out the sights.  When he wasn't propped up looking out the window, he was curled up in his carrier.

The first leg of the trip was through Texas and was loooooooooooooooooong.  I was on sort of a random two-lane Texas road and there was not a lot to see.  I was happy when we crossed into Louisiana and the scenery got a little more interesting.  After more driving, we finally hit Mississippi, and crossed a bridge near Biloxi. 

I finally got to Mobile, and stopped for some dinner.  I couldn't stomach the thought of fast food, so I saw a nice shopping area with a Newks, and headed there.  I was dying for a Greek salad, so I ordered one to go.  I figured I'd eat it in the car so I could sit with Clyde.

Eating this salad in the car was nearly impossible though.  I squirted a grape tomato all over myself, kept getting the dressing all over and it was just a big ol mess.  I probably ate about a third of it and then put it in the cooler to deal with when I got to the hotel.  Salad in the car = mess!

I got to the hotel pretty late- around 11pm.  It was a pet friendly La Quinta, and it ended up being kind of ghetto- doors on the outside, right near a highway, with a number of sketchy people hanging out nearby.  I didn't care though, because I was just tired and glad to be done driving for the day. 

Sunday morning I threw together some last minute plans to stop and see my friend Melissa in Atlanta.  I also was going to try and meet Lindsay, but because my plans were so last minute and disorganized, it didn't happen.  Sorry Lindsay!  I did see Melissa though.  We went for coffee near her place.

I love it when the do a design in the cream :) I had a decaf raspberry mocha.

Melissa and I know each other from UNH.  She was my little sister in my sorority.  She also, coincidently, married a commercial pilot, so we have that in common.  I haven't seen her in a while, even though Atlanta isn't that far from Charlotte.  We are both just so busy!

After a couple hours with Melissa, I hit the road again and finally made it back to Charlotte around 8pm.  Not bad for a two day drive.  Greg's car is now back in Charlotte.  I'm ready for my wife of the year award!  And a nap...